3. 01.Introduction
As Windows 8 comes closer to its release
date, there are still several people unsure of
whether or not they should upgrade from
Windows 7.
One of the most frequently asked question
regarding Windows 8 is: How is Windows 8
different from Windows 7? Well, here is a list of
five new features in Windows 8 that may help
you make up your mind.
4. Windows 8 Features
Everything that runs on Windows 7
will run on Windows 8
Reimagines Windows from the chipset
to experience a new range of
capabilities, scenarios, and form factors
5. Windows Touch friendly
features
The main difference between Windows 7 and
Windows 8 comes with its metro style interface
that provides live title of rectangle shape which
has replaced the icon pattern in Windows 8.
In Windows 7 operating system, software
shortcuts are in the form of icons. As far as the
touch interface is concerned then Windows 7
supports touch interface but not that much, what
was expected. So, Windows 8 comes with true
touch interface for Metro style apps. It is fast way
of accessing data by using an improved on-screen
keyboard and handwriting recognition.
6. Windows ARM processor
support
Windows 7 is fully compatible and supportive for
x86 processors which is build for traditional home
computers but the hint of Windows 8 operating
system has changed this current scenario such that
Windows 8 offers support for devices running on
ARM processor.
ARM processor designs are used for growing
number of devices. Microsoft Windows is excited to
implement ARM processor in its upcoming devices.
7. Windows based cloud computing
Earlier, it was not possible to store large amount of
data on servers but cloud computing have made it
possible. Windows 7 is not representing cloud based
services but Windows 8 does.
We know that Microsoft Windows will come with
central cloud integration in Windows 8 operating
system. It is representing synchronized data for a
Skydrive which interface settings between PC's
browsing and other photos which is being shared
among multiple platforms.
8. Windows based apps store
Windows 8 operating system introduces new
app store in which different apps is
implemented for various devices and settings
on right of the screen. The settings section
includes contextual apps like
volume, brightness, restart and power options.
You can share content, links, app
reviews, contacts, metro apps, facebook and
twitter applications with your friends or
colleagues. Windows 8 store offers both desktop
apps and ecosystem for developers. On the other
hand, Windows 7 OS is missing all these
features.
9. Windows Start button
replaced
On one side, Windows 8 is inheriting Windows 7
features like using same tile interface as used in
Windows Phone 7 but on the other hand
Windows 8 hints to Windows start button
replacement.
It is creating flexibility such that only best possible
outputs are selected from Windows 7 and others
are considered on basis of future predication.
10. Multiple monitors support in
Windows
Microsoft announced that customers can use more
than one monitor to connect with Windows 8
operating system. Windows 8 PC management
allows customers to use multiple monitors at same
time. It means Windows 8 offers flexibility by
allowing start screen at one monitor and desktop in
another.
Customer can also choose taskbar on both screens
with different icons on each monitor.
Moreover, you can play with background images as
well by changing it separate on each monitor. Such
support is not available with Windows 7 operating
11. 5 Cool Differences between
Windows 8 and Windows 7
Lightning Fast Boot
Time
Close applications
automatically!
Dynamic Desktop
Mount ISO images
without a problem
Built-in Antivirus
12. Lightning Fast
Boot Time
The past history of Microsoft suggests
that we shouldn’t believe in their claims
that Windows 8 will provide lightning fast
boot time. They claimed it with Windows
7 too but failed miserably in bringing any
considerable difference.
It is for this reason that I didn’t believe it
at first when somebody told me that it
took only 10 seconds for a 3 year old
laptop to boot with Windows 8 (it took
around 48 seconds to boot for a normal
PC with Windows 7). However, it is the
truth and it seems that Microsoft has
finally made an improvement in boot time
which is really exciting!
13. Close applications
automatically!
I find this difference really interesting and
would like to test it intensively as soon as I get
the final copy of Windows 8. Traditionally, all
versions of Windows (including Windows 7) left
it up to the user to decide whether he wanted
to close the running programs or not. In such a
case, computer performance depended upon
your actions and if you started using a lot of
programs at once, your system’s speed slowed
down as you ran out on RAM.
Windows 8 tries to help you in managing your
programs and your system’s performance by
actually closing the applications and programs
which you haven’t used for a certain time-
period (no need to worry, the Windows will
auto-save it before closing it) so as to help you
in keeping your system speed intact.
14. Dynamic Desktop
Windows 8’s desktop would be a lot
different from the desktop of a
Windows 7 user as Microsoft has
replaced the normal shortcut icons
with dynamic tiles. You can change
their size and place similar
applications around each other- or
anything else that my suit you.
The important thing to understand
is that these tiles just don’t open up
the application but also display
information from them. For
instance, if your RSS Feed has got
something interesting, it will start
to show on the tile right away!
15. Mount ISO images
without a problem
Another difference between Windows 7 and
Windows 8 is that Windows 7 could only burn
an ISO image to a DVD but Windows 8
actually betters this by offering you the option
to mount the image too. In Windows 7, you
didn’t have the option to make virtual drives
to use the ISO image’s content but Windows
8 allows you to create a virtual drive to mount
the ISO image so that you can easily use it
just like a normal DVD.
Some say that
Microsoft has been
late in offering this
feature but I say
‘better late than
never’!
16. Built-in Antivirus
Moreover, Windows 8 has an
antivirus present inside the kernel of
the operating system. This means
that your system won’t boot if a
corrupt USB device is plugged in. It
sounds impressive though I don’t
know whether it would pass the test
of time…. and viruses!
All in all, I do expect Windows 8
to be a serious upgrade on
Windows 7 and with Microsoft
working on the things that require
some tweaking; I genuinely
believe that Microsoft is finally
ready to launch an OS which will
take the world by storm!
17. COMPONENT MICROSOFT SAYS
Processor 1 GHz or faster
Graphics DirectX 9 graphics
device with WDDM
1.0 driver or better
RAM 1GB (32-bit) or 2GB
(64-bit)
Hard Drive 16GB (32-bit) or
20GB (64-bit)